Jermaine Jones says U.S. will fight to beat Germany

SAO PAULO – When Deutschlandlied and The Star-Spangled Banner are played before Thursday’s game against Germany, Jermaine Jones will close his eyes and “Let everything go through,” he said.

The everything — growing up in Germany, playing for its youth teams, getting a shot with the senior team, competing in the Bundesliga, and meeting his wife and raising his five young children in Germany. The everything — joining the U.S. team, playing in his first World Cup, becoming fluent, and funny, in English, buying a house in Los Angeles with plans to relocate his family.

Everything will go through his head, then be forgotten for 90 minutes. Hugs will be followed by hard tackles.

“It’s not the point to be their friend, the point is to get to the next round — that is the important stuff,” Jones said of his friends on Die Mannschaft. “We will try everything to win this game. We don’t go into this game and say maybe a draw happens, it will be enough. We want to go there and show people that we can battle and we can beat the German team.”

For the five German-American players on the team – Jones, Fabian Johnson, Timmy Chandler, John Brooks and Julian Green – and their German-born coach, Thursday’s game will be a jumble of emotions.

“It’s very special, it’s something that doesn’t happen every year and probably not anymore in the lifetime, so you try to enjoy this moment,” Jurgen Klinsmann said before leaving for Recife on Tuesday.

“I’m looking forward to seeing all of them. The staff is pretty much the same as I left it, when I stepped out in 2006,” Klinsmann said of his stint coaching Germany through the 2006 World Cup. “There is no doubt that it’s a special moment because it’s the team that you start building … so I will give them big hugs before the game and then leave to the side. We’re gonna get the job done and we’re gonna give a farewell hug again after the game.”

Such congeniality seems a bit out of place for a game with so much on the line, but given the close ties, Germany vs. the USA is almost like Serena vs. Venus or Harbaugh vs. Harbaugh.

The United States and Germany both have four points and are atop Group G, ahead of Ghana and Portugal, which have one point each. If the Americans beat Germany, they would win Group G and play the second-place team from Group H. (Belgium currently leads Group H, followed by Algeria, Russia and South Korea.)

If Germany and the U.S. draw, Germany wins the group. The U.S. would finish second and would play the winner of Group H.

If the U.S. loses, it gets complicated. The U.S. would rely on goal differential, with Ghana and Portugal also playing Thursday. The U.S. is plus 1, Ghana is minus 1 and Portugal is minus 4.

Jones, 32, has had his cleats in both worlds, more so than his teammates. After a standout season with Schalke during the 2006-2007 Bundesliga season, German coach Joachim Low called Jones up for a pair of European qualifiers against Cypress and Wales in fall 2007. One day later, Jones injured his knee and was unable to play in an official game with the national team.

The midfielder had played in under-21 matches for Germany and made his senior team debut in a friendly in 2008, playing in three exhibitions. When he was a final cut from Low’s 2008 European Championship roster, he petitioned to switch allegiances to the United States. His father is American.

“I can’t say bad stuff about Germany. I have a lot of friends and everything is good and everything happens for a reason. So, I play for the United States and I’m happy to play in this World Cup,” Jones said.

Jones was brought onto the U.S. team by former coach Bob Bradley and made his red, white and blue debut in 2010 with 44 international appearances for the U.S. since then. He has an assist and goal through the first two World Cup games and carries a yellow card into Thursday’s game.

For much of his time with the U.S. team, Jones was an easy target of criticism. Fans have bemoaned his reckless tackles, calling him a yellow card waiting to happen. “The people talk, (saying) ‘You always kick the guy. You’re the bad boy,’” he said. “For me, it was always … I will show the people.”

It’s hard to say when Jones crossed over from bad boy to beloved. Perhaps this tweet by Alex Morgan?

“I see Alex Morgan, the girl, she’s running around, with the 13 too and she makes ‘Jones,’” he said with a laugh. Morgan, who also wears No. 13, taped JONES over the back of her jersey for the Portugal game.